(Image via goodmorningamerica.com)
Staff Writer: Aidan Danforth
Email: adanforth@umassd.edu
Since sports aired on television, the televisions at every bar would mainly air men’s sports. NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, etc, have always been the popular leagues, while women’s sports have been swept under the rug.
Within recent years, that has changed. The 2024 WNBA season was a league-changing season that saw many records broken and new faces that shaped the league.
What caused the increase in popularity around the WNBA, and what does this mean for the future of the WNBA and women’s sports?
Emerging Stars
2024 saw a considerable increase in WNBA viewership. 2023 saw around 505 million average viewers, but in 2024, that total skyrocketed to 657 million viewers.
The massive rise in viewership began during March Madness, which saw some of the greatest stars fans have seen on the court. Two of those names are Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Caitlin Clark emerged in a talented Iowa team that made it to the March Madness championship. Her stat line amazed viewers, averaging 31.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 8.9 assists.
Her name was popping up everywhere on social media platforms. Usually, only the men’s bracket is brought to attention in March, but the emergence of Clark changed that.
Clark also accomplished several feats, such as the all-time scoring record for NCAA women’s basketball. She has the most games over 30 points out of any man or woman in the last 25 years.
Reese had similar success as she became a staple during LSU’s March Madness run to the semifinals. Her stats were also great. She averaged 20.8 points, 14.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
That went along with several achievements, such as the NCAA record in double-doubles in a season, as well as the Most Outstanding Player Award for the Women’s March Madness Tournament.
LSU lost in the final four while Iowa came short of winning the championship, losing to South Carolina. However, Clark and Reese left a legacy to the NCAA women’s basketball that will be tough to match.
The Indiana Fever drafted Clark with the first pick, while the Chicago Sky took Reese with the seventh pick.
Both women shined a light on the WNBA. People wondered if their dominating play could escalate to the professional level. Other stars taken included Cameron Brink and Kamila Cardoso.
All lights were on the Clark and the Fever heading into the regular season. The Fever had an okay season, but what Clark did was more important.
She wasn’t just dominant. Clark had one of the best rookie seasons of any basketball player as well as one of the greatest WNBA seasons yet.
What did Clark do? She only became the first rookie to be part of the All-WNBA first team. She also broke the record for most double-doubles by a rookie and had the most single-season points out of any player.
The Sky had a terrible year, but it didn’t mean Reese was terrible, as she saw several achievements that changed the league.
Reese was named to the WNBA All-Star Team and broke the record for single-season rebounds. She achieved double-doubles in fifteen straight games. She and Cardoso made a deadly rookie duo that shocked the league.
If not for a late-season wrist injury, there’s a chance Reese could have made the race for Rookie of the Year a lot closer as Clark narrowly beat her for the award.
The league already had talent like A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Brittney Griner. However, the rookie class of 2024 brought something special to the WNBA. It attached more fans to the league, which increased its popularity.
WNBA Playoffs
With such a huge popularity increase, many became excited for the WNBA playoffs. This season saw the New York Liberty win the championship after failing to do so the previous year.
New York has been around for 28 years and won their first-ever finals in an epic five-game series with the Minnesota Lynx. Jonquel Jones, who has been in the league for a while and is determined to repeat, won the finals MVP.
This win is also meaningful to Brenna Stewart. She joined the Liberty in hopes of bringing her hometown a championship, and she did that. Stewart had two rings with the Seattle Storm, but this championship was special.
As a whole, the finals saw an 82% increase in viewership. This was compared to last year’s viewership during the Liberty and Ace finals.
Not only was the viewership increased, but the attendance for each game was also high. Countless celebrities were seen at each game, including 11 notable ones during the climactic game five.
The rise in the popularity of the WNBA can be explained from multiple perspectives. Most would say the unreal playing of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese caused a sudden uproar. This helped pave the way for the other WNBA stars to get more recognition along with the league’s games.
The WNBA is on the rise. There are plans for upcoming expansion teams in Golden State and Toronto. That, combined with existing stats, should help the WNBA grow more and become a staple for sports bars.